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“For a person devoid of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, his birth in a great family or nation, his knowledge of revealed scripture, his performance of austerities and penance, and his chanting of Vedic mantras are all like ornaments on a dead body. Such ornaments simply serve the concocted pleasures of the general populace.” (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11)

We all have consciousness, but what is this consciousness? It is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have forgotten Kṛṣṇa, and therefore we simply say “consciousness,” but really “consciousness” means Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because without Kṛṣṇa we cannot have consciousness. Without the sun, how can there be sunshine? Therefore we say “sunshine,” and not just “shine.” Similarly, “consciousness” means Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This requires a little intelligence to understand, but devotees like Kuntī have this intelligence and understanding. Therefore Kuntī says, “The Pāṇḍavas and Yadus are so important, but what is actually our value?”

Because Kṛṣṇa is bidding farewell, Kuntī laments, “You will go, and we shall not be able to see You. What then will be the value of our name and fame?” Bhavato ’darśanaṁ yarhi hṛṣīkāṇām iveśituḥ. She gives the example that without Kṛṣṇa they would be like the senses without life. In this material world we desire sense enjoyment, but without Kṛṣṇa or without Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no possibility of sense enjoyment. We may have strong arms and legs, but when there is no consciousness – when there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness – we cannot even utilize them. An intelligent person, therefore, knows that without Kṛṣṇa his senses have no value, and therefore he becomes a devotee. He rightly concludes that because there is an intimate relationship between the senses and Kṛṣṇa, as long as the senses are active it is one’s duty to use the senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa. This is bhakti.

To use an example I have given many times, suppose in an assembly one finds a hundred-dollar note that has fallen from someone’s pocket. If one takes that note and puts it in one’s own pocket, one is a thief because that note does not belong to him. This is called bhoga, false enjoyment. Then again, someone else may think, “Oh, why shall I touch it? It belongs to someone else. Let it remain there. I have nothing to do with it.” This is called tyāga, renunciation. So although the hundred-dollar note is the same, one person is trying to enjoy it while another is trying to give it up. But both of them – the bhogī and the tyāgī – are fools.

The bhogīs are the karmīs, those who are working very hard to exploit the resources of the material nature, like the scientists, for example, who are doing research to further such exploitation. Their intention, actually, is to steal. On the other hand, the tyāgīs, those who are unable to steal, have a “sour grapes” philosophy: “Oh, these things are useless. There is no need of them.” Mostly, of course, people are bhogīs; that is, they are trying to use everything to enjoy sense gratification. But still there are those who are baffled in sense gratification and who therefore say, “No, no, we don’t need these things.”

Continuing the example, however, when a hundred-dollar note is found, the person who acts most properly is the one who takes it and says, “Someone has lost this note. Let me find its owner.” Upon returning that note, one renders real service. One who takes the note for himself and one who leaves the note where it is are both useless. Similarly, the bhogī and tyāgī are both useless. But the bhakta, the devotee, knows that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa and should therefore be offered to Kṛṣṇa. This is real service.

Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. What is the body? It is a combination of material elements – earth, water, fire, air, and the subtle, psychological elements mind, intelligence, and false ego. Kṛṣṇa claims, “All these eight elements are My separated energy.” Then how are the body and mind ours? Although I claim that the body is mine, I do not even know how it is working. A tenant in an apartment may pay rent and somehow or other occupy the apartment and enjoy its utilities, although he may not actually know how the heat and tap water are working. Similarly, although we do not know the details of how the body works, we are using this body, which actually belongs not to us but to Kṛṣṇa. This is the real fact. The body consists of the senses and the mind, and therefore the senses and mind also belong to Kṛṣṇa.

I am a spiritual soul, but I have been given the opportunity to utilize a certain type of material body. Because I wanted it, Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He has given it to me. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. If one wants the body of a king, Kṛṣṇa will give it; if one follows the prescribed method, one will get the body of a king. And if one wants the body of a hog so that one may eat stool, Kṛṣṇa will give one that kind of body also. But now, in the human form of life, one should understand, “Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, so why am I hankering to satisfy this body which is supposedly mine? Rather, now that I have this body, let me serve Kṛṣṇa.” This is intelligence, and this is bhakti.

Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate: bhakti means to use hṛṣīka, the senses, in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa, Kṛṣṇa, the master of the senses (tvayā hṛṣīkeśena hṛdi sthitasya yathā karomi). Because I wanted some sense gratification, forgetting that everything actually belongs to Kṛṣṇa, I have been given this body, which is a facility for sense gratification. But the senses have no value without Kṛṣṇa, and therefore the natural conclusion is that the senses belong to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, since I have these senses, why not use them for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction? This is bhakti.